Nb-doped ZnO films with (002) orientation have been grown on glass substrates by rf magnetron sputtering followed by vacuum annealing at 400°C for 3 h. The microstructures and surface figures of the Nbdoped ZnO films were investigated with X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. And its optical and electrical properties were measured at room temperature using a four-point probe technique and 756-type spectrophotometer, respectively. X-ray diffraction (XRD) revealed that the films are highly textured along the 𝑐 axis and perpendicular to the surface of the substrate. After annealing at 400°C for 180 min under vacuum, transmittance of about 90% in visible region for Nb doped ZnO films was confirmed by the optical transmission spectra, and the low resistivity of 5.47 × 10^-3 𝛺.cm was obtained.

Interface-dependent electric-pulse-induced resistance switching effect (EPIR) in Nd_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃ ceramics was studied. The results reveal that the EPIR effect originates from the interface between the electrodes and the bulk, and the EPIR ratio as well as the high and low resistance states can be strongly influenced by applying a large electrical field on the sample for different intervals. Also, the pulse parameters have great effect on the stability of EPIR and the optimal pulse width, pulse amplitude and read bias are obtained. Based on the space charge limited current mechanism together with the theory of interfacial charge-trapped state, the interface-dependent resistance switching effect is discussed.

We studied the self-heating effect during ion bombardment process on polycrystalline Al foils. An anisotropic surface morphology evolution has been observed. The adjacent peaks’ fusion along the direction perpendicular to the ion beam projection smoothen the surface. Fusion along the parallel direction has been suppressed due to Ar⁺ ion bombardment. It attributes to the result of the competition between the isotropic thermal effect, due to the self-heating effect by energy exchange between incident ions and Al surface, and the suppression by continuous ion bombardment with a certain incident angle. Varying the incident ion beam angle with the angular range 32° < 𝜃 < 82°, the ripple wave vector, 𝜆, is found to be parallel to the ion beam direction, whereas for 𝜃 > 82° , 𝜆 is perpendicular to the beam direction. The critical angle, 𝜃_c, is close to 82°, which is different from Bradley and Harper’s prediction and attributes to the self-heating effect.